Friday, May 13, 2011

Several New Trainers Certified Under Fieldbus Foundation FCTP Program

The Fieldbus Foundation has certified several new trainers under our Fieldbus Certified Training Partner program (FCTP).FCTP means that your fieldbus training is taught at a Certified Training Site, by a Certified Instructor, using Certified Curriculum. Through the FCTP program training sites, curriculum, and instructors are all audited to ensure they meet program requirements. A complete list of certified training centers around the world can be seen atthe Foundation web site.

The program currently offers three certifications. Any certified trainer can teach all of these certifications.

·The FOUNDATION Certified Professional certificate is geared towards engineers, designers, main instrumentation controls contractor, and startup and commissioning specialists wanting to increase their knowledge base of design, planning, and implementation of FOUNDATION systems.

·The FOUNDATION Certified Support Specialist certificate is appropriate for sales professionals, end user management, and plant operating staff wanting to be knowledgeable enough to communicate intelligently about FOUNDATION technology.

·The FOUNDATION Certified Technical Specialist certificate is designed for maintenance technicians, supervisors, and contract service support specialists who install, maintain, repair/replace and troubleshoot FOUNDATION systems.

I posted a couple of weeks ago about the demand for fieldbus professionals in the Canadian oil sands.Almost half of the new project activity happening in industries like oil and gas, petrochemical, refining, and other industries incorporates fieldbus technology.According to ARC Advisory Group, training services is one of the fastest growing segments of the automation business today.New entrants to the workforce must be well versed in digital technology for process automation.

·We have certified two new trainers at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) – Ed Williamson and Mark Tarrant.Ed Williamson is an instructor at SAIT with a long background at Canadian oil sands developer Opti Canada. Mark Tarrant has an extensive background with companies like Emerson and is the lead DCS instructor at SAIT.

·Back in December, we certified two Japanese trainers with Waseda University: Yoshiharu Amano and Yoshitsugu Morioka.Dr. Amano is a professor at Waseda University whose areas of research include Analysis and Optimization of Energy Systems and Development of Autonomous Mobile Systems.Mr. Morioka has many years of experience with Yokogawa and with the Fieldbus Foundation and is currently a visiting researcher at the Waseda University Research Institute for Science and Engineering.

FCTP ensures that you are working with someone possessing a strong knowledge of Foundation technology principles; a consistent understanding of fieldbus fundamentals and a proven ability to implement fieldbus-based control systems. Beginning automation students are able to identify colleges, universities and other facilities offering a certified Foundation educational curriculum. After graduating, they will be able to present official FCTP certificates to potential employers. Existing automation professionals completing certified courses can expand their job skills and employment value within their companies.